"I don't know! I ran down this alley and the next thing I knew...", the older man gestured around.
Peter looked at the crime scene, a dirty alley, one of hundreds virtually identical in a city as large as his.
The victim, balding with large glasses, looks to the Knight, "what will happen to me?"
Peter turns his sad gaze to the man. "I don't know."
The man's eyes go wide and glassy as his form fades away.
Peter takes a minute to collect himself and returns to the job at hand.
Sometime in the last 5 hours a Caucasian male, mid forties to early fifties, was assaulted and killed in this alley. The victim, or what's left of him, laid under a sheet, soaked. He looked...
"What's up?" The deep voice of one of his coworkers asked.
Peter turned around to find Luke Cage observing the scene with detached interest. Beside him, standing with a styrofoam cup of some sort and a paper sack, Laura inhaled deeply.
She threw herself fully into being his assistant. Jane gave her a hand and got her a few conservative business dresses and sensible heels. Carlie hooked her up with a pair of glasses with fake lenses. Completing her disguise, Aracely gave her a makeover. Hair in a sensible bun and minimum makeup, the overall effect transformed the warrior into the picture of an efficient office worker.
Kind of reminded him of a shorter, brunette Pepper Potts.
Especially with that frown she was sporting.
"You missed breakfast."
Peter smiled slightly and cocked an eyebrow. He approached the two and took the coffee out of Laura's hand but waved the sack away. "I'll eat later. I can't right now", he told her waving to the corpse.
Her glare eased a fraction and she lowered the sack. "I could smell him outside when we approached."
"Really?" He replied with interest. The Marvel Knights adapted some of the tech from Reed Richards. Spider-Man had borrowed it when he beat up and swapped places with Venom. It didn't let sound travel outside the force field, and it was tweaked where you couldn't see through it. Also, they changed it to allow people to walk through it, and apparently smells. The Knight's used it to block off crime scenes.
"Yes", Laura continued. "I could smell the blood, and some sort of chemical I didn't recognize."
Peter was about to ask about it when scraping caught their attention. They turned to see Luke picking up a nearby dumpster that was against a building.
Peter ran to him, with Laura at a steady walking pace behind.
"Hey Cage! Don't contaminate my scene!"
"I'm wearing gloves", Luke shrugged. He sat the dumpster to the side and the three looked at what was revealed.
Hunks of partially frozen meat were thawing slowly in the shade beneath the dumpster, somewhat protected from the heat.
"Huh", Luke looked around, "is there a butcher's place somewhere near?"
"That's not beef buddy", Peter informed him, trying not to dry heave.
Laura took another sniff and adjusted her glasses. "Our victim."
Luke turned his shocked gaze from them to the small pile in front of them. His eyes grew hard and cold. He looked to the sheet covered body a few yards away. "What do we think happened?"
Peter stepped away and took a few deep breathes. He took stock of the situation and came up with a theory.
"Our vic was chased", he stated getting the others attention. "He was frozen suddenly mid stride. He fell hard, pieces breaking off around the area. The flash freeze wasn't completed, so the majority of the body remains intact."
"So someone with ice powers?" Luke scratched his chin.
"Ice TECH." The scientist corrected. "Most cryo technology leaves faint chemical residue. Harmless to consume in most cases. A natural ice dispensing super power leaves no chemical trace, right?"
Laura nodded to him after a moment of thought. "In my experience, those mutants that create ice do not leave any odorous sign."
"Mutants AND mutates", Peter corrected. "There's a number of the later running around too."
"Just makes our suspect list a little bigger", Cage commented. "Still, not a lot of 'em to round up."
Peter looked around the alley. "True."
He shook his hands and hundreds of spiders appeared from cracks and holes throughout the area.
Luke and Laura hardly reacted when Peter placed several evidence bags on the ground. Spiders swarmed the alley and several approached their summoner.
"I'll bag and tag what I can find here and check to see who I know that could do something like this."
Groups of spiders appeared to be carrying all sorts of refuse and debris from the area, even probable viscera from the victim that wasn't picked by scavengers. The helpful arachnids worked together to open bags and place their loads into them, then return to searching. All under the guide of the Spider.
"Man that's creepy Webs", Luke could feel his unbreakable skin goose bump.
"You should see me take out the trash at home", Peter quipped.
At least two dozen bags were filled before the swarm dispersed. It was probably the cleanest the alley had been in years.
Laura looked around. "I do not believe using spiders constitutes proper crime seen etiquette."
"Yeah, well", the brunette flushed a bit, "they're practically another set of eyes for me, and no one can get as good of a view as they can."
She hummed in response but didn't comment further.
The Harlem native shook his head in amusement and turned to leave. "I'll send for the rest of the team to sweep through, but I doubt they'll find much of anything after you."
Peter crouched near the bags with gloves on his hands. Almost like reading his mind, Laura handed him a sharpie and he began labeling the evidence.
"Cool. I'll try to have some suspects by lunch."
His assistant gave Luke the sack of food and pulled out a small electronic pad, another gift from Carlie, and tapped away with the stylus. "You have that meeting for lunch."
Ah. The "meeting".
Peter clicked his tongue then turned his head to Luke, "by the afternoon rush?"
Luke nodded, "I'll let Steve know." He walked through the reflective field, taking Peter's breakfast with him, into the New York beyond.
Laura glared after he left, but Peter just laughed.
Peter finished by the time several others walked in from the street, several recent hires that came highly recommended. None from the hero community, just hard working people that felt they would do better with the Knights.
They coordinated with him, and after a few questions let him leave. Several were in awe of how he could bag so much evidence on his own in such little time.
Laura made a note to warn him next time about looking TOO good at his job.
They left the field and passed through the standard police tape and crowds of the press looking for a scoop.
The pair separated soon after, Peter to make his meeting and Laura to speak with the rest of the special team. And maybe turn a hose on Miguel and Carlie if she walked in on something not appropriate for the workplace... again.
Peter made his way through the city, calling a cab when available and stopping at a familiar high-rise. Nodding to the doorman, he made his way to one of the top floors.
Finding the door he wanted, he knocked and waited.
A slightly round blonde opened the door and let him enter.
"Make it here ok?" Carol Danvers, the mother of his child, questioned.
"Well, didn't get sucked into the Negative Zone on my way, so I consider that a win." He winked at her. "Happened once. True story."
She smiled and shook her head. "Your life is so weird."
"Heh", he chucked a bit and sat on a couch. "So where were we?"
Carol retrieved some leftover pizza from her microwave and sat it on the coffee table between them. She sat on the couch opposite from him. "I was telling you about my time as Binary."
"Cool. I'll tell you about being Captain Universe afterwards", he said before starting on a slice.
So they continued repairing the bridge they didn't realize was being torn down.
Once finished with lunch and their stories', they agreed to another the next day.
Slow and steady, they both felt "something" they considereal long abandoned begin to grow between them once more.